Santa Clara, Cuba—The first scheduled commercial flight between the United States and Cuba in more than 50 years brings U.S. government officials, reporters and regular travelers to the central city of Santa Clara on August 31 as part of the Obama administration’s restoration of ties with the Communist-ruled island. U.S. airlines have been lining up to offer flights to the capital city of Havana, as tourism and travel by Americans of Cuban descent is expected to surge.

"The ice doesn’t care what this administration thinks. It’s just going to keep melting," David Titley, the director of the Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk at Penn State, told Newsweek.